The present invention relates to an air manifold apparatus, and in particular, to an enclosed chamber for supplying pressurized air to a plurality of air lines extending therefrom.
Air powered tools have long been utilized in the building and construction industry. As opposed to electricity, air powered tools utilize pressurized air by which to drive a motor provided in each tool. In order to utilize pressurized air as a power source, there, of course, must be a supply of pressurized air provided to the air powered tools. Such sources of pressurized air are typically provided by air compressors which provide a supply of pressurized air through an air hose. The air hose communicates with the air powered tool to drive the motor in the air powered tool and allow the air powered tool to perform its task.
At a construction or building site, several different air powered tools may be utilized by several different workers at the same time. This requires that several different air lines be provided in order to supply each air powered tool with pressurized air. In order that one air compressor may be utilized for several different air lines, air line splitters have been developed to distribute a common or single supply of pressurized air to a plurality of outlet air lines. The disadvantage with splitting an air line into multiple air lines is that the air compressor must engage and disengage more often in order to maintain a minimum level of pressurized air in the air lines. The increased amount of engagement and disengagement by the air compressor created by the air line being split may create excessive wear on the air compressor thereby raising the cost of maintaining the air compressor.
One known air line splitter design provides one inlet for receiving the supply of pressurized air and three outlets for distributing the pressurized air to three different air lines. The air line splitter has a tripod structure wherein the inlet to the air line splitter provides an aperture that maintains a coaxial relationship with the longitudinal axis of the air line splitter. The outlets of the air line splitter extend at the opposite end of the air line splitter from the inlet. Each outlet has an aperture with a longitudinal axis that is maintained at an acute angle from the longitudinal axis of the inlet. These air line splitters are commonly small and fabricated from hard, but typically brittle, materials, such as ceramics and plastics. Due to the rugged environment of most construction and building sites, these air line splitters are commonly cracked or broken, thereby requiring the need to replace the air line splitters. Quick release connectors or disconnects are typically sealed to the inlet and outlets of the air line splitters, and therefore, the quick release disconnects must be removed from the damaged air line splitter and resealed in a new air line splitter. The replacement of such air line splitters creates delays, costs and inefficiencies that are undesirable in the building and construction industries.
It would be desirable to design an air line splitter that would not be easily damaged under the rigors of a building or construction site and would not increase the wear on an air compressor.
The present invention relates to an air manifold apparatus for supplying pressurized air to at least one air line. The present invention provides an enclosure having at least one air inlet for receiving pressurized air from a pressurized air source and at least one air outlet for communicating pressurized air to at least one air line. The at least one air inlet and the at least one air outlet are each connectable to an air hose connector for communicating pressurized air between the enclosed chamber and the at least one air line. The present invention also includes means, extending from said enclosure, for protecting the at least one hose connector from structural damage. The protecting means may include at least one substantially rigid bar connected to and extending from the enclosure. The at least one bar may also act as a handle and/or a stand for the air manifold apparatus.
Other advantages and applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.